POPLARVILLE, Miss. – Eight Wildcats scored in double digits as the Pearl River women's basketball team had an explosive offensive effort in a 120-41 victory against Enterprise State in the home opener Friday in the Pearl River Classis at Marvin R. White Coliseum.
The Wildcats only had one player reach the twenty-minute mark, while Enterprise State arrived in Poplarville with only five active players.
"We are definitely proud," head coach Scotty Fletcher said. "We were able to get a lot of players some minutes. This team is a growing team; they need to get as many reps as they can get.
"Hopefully, the one thing we can have is depth, and we can utilize that as we push and try to make a run."
FIRST QUARTER
Pearl River (2-0), behind the offensive of Taylor Johnson-Matthews (Cleveland, Ohio; Charles F. Brush), jumped out to a 19-0 lead to open the game.
Johnson-Matthews opened the game with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Johnson-Matthews followed with back-to-back baskets in the post to push the Wildcat lead to 7-0. Kamren Edwards (Jackson; Murrah) joined in the action, hitting a short-range jumper following a Janiah Caples (Vicksburg) steal, 9-0. Caples scored her first points of the contest on a layup after receiving a nice behind-the-back pass from Marley Freeman (Brandon), 13-0. Caples pushed the score to 19-0 with a layup off a Wildcat fastbreak.
Enterprise (0-4) hit a big 3-pointer to stop the Wildcat opening run, 9-3. Freeman and Avery Young (Iota, La.) scored on back-to-back layups to push the Wildcat lead to 23-3. Audria Houston (Oxford; Tupelo) and Edwards closed out the first quarter with layups to give the Wildcats a 29-8 lead after one quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
Enterprise opened the second stanza with a quick basket to bring the score to 29-10. Samya Brooks (Pontotoc) responded for the Wildcats with back-to-back baskets in the post. The second came on a well-executed spin move past a defender for a layup, 33-10. Johnson-Matthews continued where she left off in the first quarter, scoring four consecutive points for the Wildcats, converting two free throws, then making a layup after forcing a Boll Weevil turnover, 39-11.
Leah Wilcher (Brookhaven) pushed the score to 50-13 by converting a layup while getting fouled. Wilcher hit the free throw to complete the three-point play. A Tiir Nyok (High Point, N.C.; Southwest Guilford) putback extended the Wildcat lead to 56-15. Edwards followed with an exciting score. Edwards cut through three defenders and finished with a left-hand scoop layup, 58-15. Another layup from Brooks and a Caples 3-pointer closed out the first half scoring for the Wildcats. Pearl River entered the break with a 63-20 lead.
THIRD QUARTER
Young opened the third quarter scoring, hitting a 3-pointer off a perfect cross-court pass by Caples, 66-20. Alexis Arrington (Terry) followed with a layup after an Enterprise turnover, 68-20. Caples pushed the Wildcat lead to 49 with a 3-pointer from the corner, 71-22.
Brooks added a basket off a nice spin move in the lane, 75-24. Arrington rebounded an Enterprise miss and drove the court for a layup to bring the score to 79-28. Freeman converted a 3-point play at the end of the quarter. Freeman was fouled on a made layup and hit the free throw to bring the score to 83-30.
FOURTH QUARTER
Mikayla Riley (Tupelo) scored seven straight points for the Wildcats in the early moments of the fourth period. After hitting two free throws, Riley hit a 3-pointer from the elbow before scoring on a put back under the basket, 93-33.
Hama'ya Fielder (Philadelphia; Neshoba Central) followed with a 3-pointer from the corner to bring the Pearl River lead to 96-35.
Edwards makes a short jumper to push The River to the century mark, 100-37.
Nyok scored five straight points for the Wildcats in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Nyok was fouled on a layup and hit the free throw, 116-39. Nyok followed with a fast break layup, bringing the score to 118-29. Houston made a layup with 34 seconds remaining to close out the scoring for the Wildcats, 120-39. Enterprise hit a basket with eleven seconds remaining to bring the final score to 120-41.
BY THE NUMBERS
Riley led all scorers with 17 points while adding six rebounds. Johnson-Matthews scored 13 points with nine rebounds in under 12 minutes of playing time. Caples had a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with 12 points. Four players had 10 points: Young, Brooks, Edwards, Wilcher and Freeman.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats host Andrew College on the second day of the Pearl River Classic. Tipoff inside Marvin R. White Coliseum is 3 p.m. and will be livestreamed at www.PRCCMedia.com/gold.
TUNE IN
All home Pearl River basketball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
Games will also be available over the air in Pearl River County by tuning into 1320 AM and 106.9 FM. The radio broadcast is also available at WRJWRadio.com and by downloading the WRJW app.
TICKETS
To help improve traffic flow and fan experience, PRCC athletics box offices will be cashless in 2023-24. Only credit and debit cards will be accepted at the box office. Fans are encouraged to beat the lines and purchase their tickets in advance at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets.
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